Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 39.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,921 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $2.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $262.70. 784,093 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,167,809. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $247.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.34. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ECL. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.13.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.